Chapter 22: The Eight Trigrams of Heaven

  "Don't come near me, I'm afraid of blood."

  "Don't worry, we'll be very gentle."

  "Bang bang bang...... Wow wow wow......"

  Several barons fell to the ground, crying out in agony. Bai Cangdong patted the dust off his shoulders: "I told you, I'm afraid of seeing blood, but you guys wouldn't listen."

  "Leave your name, this vendetta will be avenged." The man continued to shout.

  "Idiot." Bai Canghai lazily scolded him, and unexpectedly headed in the direction of Wu Gai.

  The moves of the Pain Blade were indeed more effective against humans than against the Undead, this was Bai Cangdong's first feeling. There were too many pain points on a human body, and as long as one of them was hit, those Barons would basically lose their combat effectiveness.

  "May I borrow the martial skills from here?" Bai Cangdong arrived at the Martial Pavilion and showed his token.

  The guard at the Wu Ge looked at the token, then at Bai Cangdong, and said indifferently: "I heard that Count Dao Lun sent a martial artist over, but I didn't expect it to be a baron. The second floor is where the martial skills are stored, you can go up there and take a look around, but the rules here are not allowed to bring out the secret books from Wu Ge. Even if you are a martial artist personally selected by Count Dao Lun, if you violate this rule, you will be severely punished."

  "Thanks for reminding me, I know now." Bai Cangdong put away the token and went straight up to the second floor.

  The entire second floor was lined with rows of bookshelves, on which were placed many martial arts manuals. At a rough glance, there were probably around three to four hundred volumes.

  "This is the Martial Pavilion of the Wu Shi, how dare you sneak in here, your guts are truly not small." A man who was flipping through a secret book saw Bai Cangdong and immediately shouted loudly.

  "Never mind, he must have accidentally wandered in here. Let him leave." said another woman who was flipping through a secret book next to her.

  "How can that be, Wu Ge is such an important place, can't just let ordinary members come and go as they please." The man looked at Bai Cang Dong sternly and said: "Now, immediately cut off one arm, you can keep your life."

  "He didn't see anything, don't be so severe," the woman said softly.

  "Meng Yun, the Knife Sect has its own rules, and these rules must not be broken. If they are, it will lead to chaos. Those who break these rules must be severely punished." The man shouted at Bai Cangdong again: "Hurry up and cut off one of your arms, otherwise if I take action, it won't just be a matter of cutting off an arm!"

  Yan Mengyun opened her mouth, but didn't know what to say. Although the man had been a bit ruthless in his handling of things, Bai Cangdong had indeed broken the rules of the Knife Sect.

  "I don't know what rules I've broken, but you want me to cut off one of my arms?" Bai Cangdong asked calmly.

  "This is a martial arts pavilion for martial artists only. You entered without permission, which means you've broken the rules. I'm in a good mood today, if not, even if I killed you, no one would dare say a word." The man sneered.

  The white-haired old man looked at the man with a strange expression: "Your meaning is that this is a martial arts pavilion for martial artists only, and I broke the rules by entering here, so I must be punished?"

  "Not bad."

  "So I'd like to ask you, as a martial artist entering the Martial Artist's Pavilion, why should you be punished?" Bai Cangdong took out his own token.

  Seeing the token, the man's expression stiffened: "Impossible. Looking at your demeanor and spirit, you're clearly just a baron. How could you be a martial artist of the Koro Society? And there are only a few martial artists in the Koro Society, I know them all. Unless you are..."

  "In the future, I'll be coming to Koron often, so please take care of me." Hakuchou said with a smile.

  "Hmph, this is utterly ridiculous. To actually make a baron our martial arts instructor for the Kirito Society, this is an insult to our very organization." The man turned and left with a flick of his sleeve.

  Bai Cangdong looked at the man leaving the second floor with some curiosity. He hadn't provoked this man, so why did he have such a big opinion of him?

  "Bai Wushi doesn't need to be taken seriously, he is Liu Shi Quan, and like you and me, we are all martial artists of the Dao Lun Society. However, he has a deputy leader identity, nominally higher than us by one level, and manages many affairs within the society. In the future, it's best not to offend him." Yan Meng Yun walked over and said: "I'm Yan Meng Yun, also a newly appointed martial artist of the Dao Lun Society, only a few days earlier than you."

  "It was Yan Wushi. Do you know why Liu Shigui looks so dissatisfied with me? I've never met him before, nor have I offended him." asked Bai Cangdong.

  "Don't you know? Originally, the Knife Guild had two martial artist quotas, and it was already decided that I and another person would be in. However, that other person has some relationship with Liu Shi Quan, but then suddenly the Duke of Knife inserted you into the guild, so that other person couldn't become a martial artist of the Knife Guild. That's why Liu Shi Quan is treating you like this. You'd better be careful, Liu Shi Quan manages many affairs within the guild, don't let him find an opportunity to harm you."

  "Thank you, Master Yan Wu, for telling me this. I will be more careful in the future. Next time Master Yan Wu is free, I'll invite him to dinner together." Bai Cangdong suddenly realized why Liu Shi Quan was targeting him.

  "Don't be polite, I still have things to do, so I'll leave first, you take your time."

  He saw Yan Mengyun off, and Bai Cangdong's eyes fell on those secret books. There were three or four hundred volumes of baron-level secret books here, and for a while, he didn't know how to choose, so he could only flip through them one by one.

  After flipping through many secret books, Bai Cang found that not many of the baron-level martial skills were useful. Most of them were those that used the life plate to strengthen the body, similar to the "Splitting Skull Axe" but with a much worse effect. It was a waste of time to learn such martial skills, and it would be better to practice the "Splitting Skull Axe" a few more times.

  "'Heavenly Eight Steps', this martial art does have some meaning." Bai Cangdong finally found a martial art that piqued his interest and began to study it carefully.

  "The Eight Steps in the Sky" is a martial art that enhances physical speed, and Barons do not have the ability to fly, nor do Viscounts. However, when "The Eight Steps in the Sky" is practiced to its extreme, one can take eight steps in mid-air, which is already an extremely powerful ability for a Baron.

  The characteristic of this martial art lies in borrowing power from the air, and the so-called eight steps are also eight points of borrowing power. Relying on these eight points of borrowing power, it is possible to make eight turns in mid-air, achieving an unexpected effect.

  Borrowing power in the air is a very difficult thing, and the secret book has many annotations at the end, which should be added by later generations. It says that this martial skill is too difficult to practice, and ordinary people can only practice up to the second step at most. Even if they are many viscounts, it is hard for them to reach the highest level of eight steps.

  Bai Cangdong looked at some other secret books again, but felt that they were not of much use in improving his strength. On the other hand, if he could master the "Eight Steps in Heaven", it would greatly enhance his strength, even if he reached the rank of Viscount, it would still be very useful.

  He picked up "Tian Shang Ba Bu" again, and Bai Canghai seriously memorized every sentence from the first word. He had already decided to practice this martial art.

  "Young man, don't be too ambitious. 'Tian Shang Ba Bu' is indeed extraordinary, but it's not something you can master." The person guarding the Wu Ge walked up and said as he saw Bai Canghai silently memorizing 'Tian Shang Ba Bu'.

  Whether it can be practiced or not, only after trying will you know. Bai Cangdong also didn't get angry and said calmly.

  "I have been guarding the Wu Gate for many years, and I have seen too many people cultivate this 'Tian Shang Ba Bu'. In the end, those who can practice to the third step are countable on one hand. The only one who has practiced 'Tian Shang Ba Bu' to the fourth step... you can imagine how many years he spent?"

  "How many years?" Bai Cangdong was indeed a bit curious.

  "Twenty whole years."

  "Ah!" Bai Cangdong was shocked in his heart. Although he had known that the "Eight Steps in Heaven" were extremely difficult to practice, he hadn't expected it to be this difficult.

  "It took twenty years to reach the fourth step, but it's not very useful. The movement of borrowing power in the air is similar, and the martial art 'Ping Bu Qing Yun' is much easier to practice than 'Tian Shang Ba Bu'. Although the final effect is not as good as 'Tian Shang Ba Bu', it's not much different from only reaching the fourth step of 'Tian Shang Ba Bu'."

  "Thank you for your advice, but I don't know where to put that 'Ping Bu Qing Yun'?" The secret book that Bai Cangdong had read before did not have 'Ping Bu Qing Yun'.

  "It's on the top of the bookshelf in the third row of the last aisle, but it's too late today, Wu Ge is closing soon, you can come again tomorrow."

  Bai Cangdong thanked him again and left the Wu Pavilion. He had already memorized "Tian Shang Ba Bu" and was ready to start practicing, and would not be shaken by a few words from others.

  As for that "Ping Bu Qing Yun", the person who mentioned it seems to think it's quite good, and Bai Cangdong doesn't mind learning another powerful martial skill.

  Returning home, Bai Cangdong began to practice the "Eight Steps in Heaven", and only then did he realize that this martial art was indeed extremely difficult to master. Simply quickly rotating the life wheel to produce a strange energy, forcibly supporting the body in mid-air for just one step was already very arduous.

  Boom!

  Bai Cang Dong jumped into the air, but before he could even take a step, his body fell back down and crashed to the ground, bruising his arm with purple and blue marks.

  After hundreds of consecutive practices, I still can't take a step in mid-air, but my body is already covered in bruises.

  Bai Cangdong could only stop practicing and study the "Bei Ye Jing" to recover his physical strength, which could also heal the injuries on his body.

  After Bai Cangdong cultivated the longevity technique obtained from Earl Knife Lun, he found that the effect was far inferior to the "Bei Ye Jing", so he abandoned that longevity technique and continued to cultivate the "Bei Ye Jing".

  After practicing "Bei Ye Jing" for a while, I only felt that the pain on my body had alleviated a lot, and my body was warm and comfortable, almost with a feeling of floating in the air.

  Since his promotion to Baron, the effect of "Bei Ye Jing" has become more and more obvious. Bai Cangdong guessed that the level of this longevity technique must not be low.

  Under the strange effect of "Bai Ye Jing", Bai Cang's body and mind both recovered to a peak state.

  In a moment of impulse, Bai Cangdong suddenly jumped up and used the "Eight Steps in Heaven", taking three consecutive steps in mid-air before gently landing on the ground with an expression full of surprise and incredulity.